Nintendo Mystery Machine?

I read in the Feb of GamePro that Nintendo;s going to be releasing a new gaming system soon?
Is this true?
It said that they weren't sure if was going to replace the GBA or GC, it might even be a total different system.

ah yes...the N5 (or at least that what we Sega.com peeps are calling it). Well, I've heard a lot of rumors about this one...

one rumor said that it was gonna come out this year. Another one was that it was going to have backwards compatibility (aka, the ability to play GCN games). I also heard it will have GBA connectiveity (unless a new Gameboy comes out at the time). Oh well. They're just rumors anyways...

From your name it looks like you're a WC fan (I am aah-thas. FOR THE KING!!11!!11!1111!!!), now I'm lost. lol

Number two would be good, but because they couldn't use a universal drive (NES is 92-pin, SNES is 68, N64 is 44, GB is like 6), that would be one big prehipial. IMO, a new GB would be more likely, because there hasn't been a new GB system sience 2000, and with the PSP (*Cough* LYNX *Cough*, yes I'm saying it's going to fail miserably) coming up Nintendo's gonna need to prepare with some dreamcast-esque technology of it's own

Nintendo announced its new system! Its called the Nintendo DS (short for dual screen) as of now. It is a portable system with 2 front lit screens and 2 seperate processors. It is standalone and will not replace the GBA/SP or the GCN. This is pretty much all that is known. Check the article on IGNcube. http://cube.ign.com/articles/473/473998p1.html

Now, let the speculating begin!

Is this a smart business move on Nintendo's part? I mean, obviously, Sony's PSP is coming out, and at least in some way, this is meant to combat it some. Now, will this innovative feature get enough support and hype to be able to draw gamers to it, or will it just split the GBA and NDS system, letting PSP look better on paper?
I for one, thing Nintendo must have some great game idea that necessitated a whole nother screen. We can't concieve what that is, but its sure to be awesome. Now, we have to have more than one awesome game, so the true telling factor will be 3rd party support. Will other companies be willing to delve into this feature? Or will they just create a little gimmick for the second screen and not use the full potential of the 2nd screen.
Also, the last telling factor will be backwards compatability. It is supposed to be stand alone, but allowing GBA games to be played would greatly increase the game library immeadiately, and attract many more consumers. However, since the format probably isn't compatible (cartridges are a thing of the past pretty much), how much would the extra slot drive the price up?

This is an epochal move on Nintendo's part. With the current situation of Nintendo, this could make or break several plans in development. Another flop like Virtual Boy could seriously injure the company. But, I think knowing this, I respect Nintendo that much more for willing to try out and risk a whole lot on a concept they obviously believe in.

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I for one, thing Nintendo must have some great game idea that necessitated a whole nother screen. We can't concieve what that is, but its sure to be awesome. Now, we have to have more than one awesome game, so the true telling factor will be 3rd party support. Will other companies be willing to delve into this feature? Or will they just create a little gimmick for the second screen and not use the full potential of the 2nd screen.

Click to expand...

As a developer, I'd sure as heck use both screens (I wonder how much a dev kit for this will cost...). This is an awesome technological feat here. I've seen a few specs on it, and I'll see if I can find them and post it.

Ah Anaconda, nice to hear from an insider of sorts in the biz. I know developers will use the dual screens to their advantage, but there is so much potential. Will they just use the screen to have bonus stuff and clean up the "main" screen, or be truly revolutionary? Of course, that's where costs come in. Will it be too expensive to develop for this system and will creating full use of both screens cost even more? If too many games go the route of the bonus info theory, it would harm the credibility of the system. I think the given example of a soccer game where one screen has the whole field while the other zooms on one player is a lame example.

Ah Anaconda, nice to hear from an insider of sorts in the biz. I know developers will use the dual screens to their advantage, but there is so much potential. Will they just use the screen to have bonus stuff and clean up the "main" screen, or be truly revolutionary? Of course, that's where costs come in. Will it be too expensive to develop for this system and will creating full use of both screens cost even more? If too many games go the route of the bonus info theory, it would harm the credibility of the system. I think the given example of a soccer game where one screen has the whole field while the other zooms on one player is a lame example.

Any more game ideas?

Click to expand...

Heh. Well, I guess I could be considered an insider, though I'm actually currently a PC game developer. But as I was just saying that as a game developer I would develop to use both screens. And I would have both screens be something independant. There is an ARM7 processor (the same one in the GBA if I recall correctly) and I believe another ARM subprocessor in it, basically giving it the ability to do two seperate tasks on each screen (heck, you could have two different games going if you wanted to since there are two processors.)

As far as cost for using both screens, really the most it would cost more is if you were to develop more art for a second screen. All you would need to do in the programming is to make it output to a different screen. It's no different than if you were to output to two computer monitors on a video card that supports two cards.

For example:

Say I have two screens set up, one named lpDDS1 and lpDDS2 (just a bit of DirectX terms). And I have one picture in buffer1 and another picture in buffer2. And I want to put buffer1 on screen 1 and buffer2 on screen 2. A simple example (and my formatting will be wrong because I haven't written any directx code in awhile) would be as follows.

Yup. Great technology has gone to waste so many times, but one innovative example that I've seen put to good use was Dreamcast's VMU's. The minigames were great and they actually had in-game functions (fur fighter's hiding data, various other things)that made a huge difference if you had one.

I'm a member of the Nintendo's official European site, and the following greeted me when I logged on earlier tonight:

"Mystery Product" to Launch Later this Year

An unprecedented approach to video game play -- holding two separate game screens in the palm of your hands -- hits the scene later this year when Nintendo introduces a new portable game system, Nintendo DS (temporary name).

Today's announcement is just a glimpse of the additional features and benefits that will be shown in full at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles in May. Once fully revealed, players will see the innovative advance in game interaction.

From information made available today, players can look forward to being able to manage their game progress from two different perspectives, enhancing both the speed and strategy of the challenge. For example in a football game, you can view the whole game on one screen, while simultaneously focusing on an individual footballer's tackle or goal on the other screen. Players will no longer be forced to interrupt game play to shift perspective, such as moving from a wide shot to a close up, or alternating between a character's ongoing battle and a map of their environment. Nintendo DS makes it possible to perform the tasks in real time by simply glancing from one screen to the other.

Satoru Iwata, Nintendo president, explains: "We have developed Nintendo DS based upon a completely different concept from existing game devices in order to provide players with a unique entertainment experience for the 21st century"

Nintendo DS features two separate 3" TFT LCD display panels, separate processors, and semiconductor memory of up to 1 Gigabit. It is scheduled to launch worldwide before the end of 2004. In addition to Nintendo developed software, the company is in discussions with third party game developers around the world.

Nintendo DS will be marketed separately from the existing Nintendo Game Boy Advance portable system and Nintendo GameCube home console.

Way forward or gimmick? I hate to beat up on a new system before it launches, I actually, really do, but I just can't get the memories of the Virtua Boy out of my head. Two screens; it's either revolutionary, or idiotic. Can we expect other companies to follow Nintendo's lead with this sort of creative thinking? A machine that stands out as much as this does is going to need friends.

After hearing about the NIntendo DS, I can already thkn of some good ideas as to why they would do it.

1. New Pokemon releases in the far beyond future, where one screen would have teh attacks and the other screen shows the animations.
2. Future system/Gamecube connectivity.
3. To compete with Sony's PSP (they did say, after all, that GBA wasnt going to compete with PSP...)
4. Maybe to make some money (and fast!)

1. There are so many better things they can do with a second screen.
2. Probably.
3. GBA has a solid platform, it can compete with GBA darn good.
4. Ittl make money if it doesn't cost too much... *cough* n-gage *cough*